1
Cooper remains uncertain if Test versus Japan is his last for 2021
Playmaker Quade Cooper remains uncertain if Saturday’s Test against Japan will be his last for 2021 with discussions continuing between the Wallabies and his Japanese club Kintetsu. Cooper is set to line up for the Oita Test on Saturday but may miss the remaining three Tests against Scotland, England and Wales.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 33-year-old said a decision on his playing status was “above my pay grade” and he would support his club after it allowed him to join the Wallabies squad during the Rugby Championship. Cooper has played two seasons with the ambitious Liners, helping them back into Japan’s Top League competition for 2022.
“Right now I’m not 100 per cent sure. There are conversations still happening behind the scenes between the Wallabies and Kintetsu,” Cooper said on Tuesday. “Our clubs are our employers so I have got nothing but respect for them and they have been very supportive of this opportunity to come into the set-up here at the Wallabies during my holiday. So, whenever I am due back, I will follow whatever is asked of me.”
Cooper said he had been involved in the discussions, adding it was unfamiliar territory after so long being out of the Wallabies fold with his last Test in 2017. “I love playing for my country, it is a huge honour every opportunity you get. For me even being back in the squad, that was something that I hadn’t planned for so I guess it’s uncharted territory and it’s happened fairly quickly.”
He expected Japan to pose a threat to the Wallabies under the dome in Oita, which suited the Brave Blossoms’ fast, attacking style. “Two of their guys play in my (Kintetsu) team – Siosaia Fifita and Semisi Masirewa – and they are both phenomenal athletes,” he said.
The sound decision-making and balance between risk and reward has been a hallmark of Cooper’s game in 2021. @bensmithrugby breaks down the play of the Wallabies flyhalf. https://t.co/iCARuAaYYK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2021
“When you are watching Japanese Top 14, the games are lightning quick, they are free-flowing, they run the ball from everywhere. The collisions are not as high, but when you look throughout the ranks of all the teams there are some very big and physical players so that they can match it with anyone in terms of physicality. It’s their brand of football that they bring, they are exciting to watch and tough to play against… it’s going to be a very tough ask coming up against them.”
Australian-born winger Dylan Riley is also in the mix to make his Japan debut, with Cooper a fan after playing alongside him in the NRC with Brisbane City in 2017. The former Australian U20 representative has lit up Top 14 since ex-Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and his club, Panasonic Knights, came calling. “I played with Dyl and he’s a great defender and a great attacker… so I hope that he gets an opportunity,” Cooper said. “It would be great to see him play and be able to play against him.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Moana Pasifika have unveiled Wallabies centurion Sekope Kepu as the franchise's eighth signing ahead of their debut Super Rugby Pacific campaign. #Wallabies #MoanaPasifika #SuperRugbyPacific https://t.co/ADXa0CElSo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
No question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
95 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
95 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
95 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
95 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
95 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
95 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
95 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
95 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
95 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
95 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
95 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to comments